Nearly a quarter century after the Kosovo war, the arrest of Fatmir Sheholli — a former officer in Serbia’s notorious State Security Service (UDB) — on suspicion of espionage has revived painful memories of the country’s turbulent past and raised new questions about the lingering influence of Serbia’s networks in Kosovo.
The Special Prosecutor’s Office, assisted by the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (AKI), confirmed that Sheholli was detained in Pristina this week on suspicion of “involvement in espionage activities.” The acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, described the case as “one of the gravest acts against Kosovo’s constitutional order and security.”
A Controversial Past
Sheholli, now known as a civil society representative from the Institute for the Advancement of Inter-Ethnic Relations, has long been a divisive figure in Kosovo’s public life.
During the 1990s, under Slobodan Milosevic’s rule in Yugoslavia, he worked for Serbia’s State Security Service — the UDB — an agency widely accused of repressing Kosovo Albanians.
Although Sheholli left the agency in 1993 and later worked for Radio Pristina, his past has shadowed him ever since. In 1991, a public statement signed by 44 members of the Sheholli family from Podujeva and nearby villages denounced Fatmir and his father Maliq for “collaboration with the Serbian occupier,” calling their actions “an act of national betrayal.”
Maliq Sheholli, a member of the Serbian Socialist Party at the time, was killed in 1998 during the Kosovo conflict. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) claimed responsibility for the killing, calling him a “traitor” for siding with Belgrade.
Between Two Worlds
Fatmir Sheholli has long denied accusations of collaboration or espionage. In a 1999 interview in Belgrade, he accused the KLA of murdering his father “because he supported Yugoslavia,” though he later retracted that claim, saying the KLA was not responsible.
In recent years, Sheholli re-emerged as a frequent guest on Kosovo television talk shows, identifying himself as a political analyst and openly acknowledging that he once worked for the UDB.
His name also surfaced in parliament two years ago when Prime Minister Albin Kurti publicly urged opposition MP Hisen Berisha not to meet with Sheholli, calling him a controversial figure.
Financial Trail
The case took a new turn last year when the Intelligence Inspectorate submitted a report to the Special Prosecutor’s Office alleging irregularities in AKI’s informant budget between 2017 and 2020. The report claimed that around €2 million were disbursed without proper documentation — and that Sheholli had received about €639,000 from AKI funds, allegedly for “information services.”
The Prosecutor’s Office has not confirmed whether these payments are directly linked to the espionage allegations, but officials say the investigation could uncover a wider network of informants and potential breaches of national security.
A Mirror of Kosovo’s Divisions
Sheholli’s arrest has polarized opinion in Pristina. To some, it is a long-overdue act of justice against a man tied to Belgrade’s repressive machinery. To others, it risks reopening old wounds at a time when Kosovo is still struggling to strengthen institutions and national unity.
“This case reminds us that the past is never truly past in Kosovo,” said political analyst Bedri Elezi. “It exposes the fragile balance between security, history, and identity that the state must still navigate.”
As the investigation unfolds, Sheholli’s story — from state security agent to civil society activist — serves as a reminder of how Kosovo’s post-war transition remains haunted by the shadows of the 1990s.